Valve islands comprising two or more valves are known in the art. A valve island typically comprises two or more valves mounted on a common base with a common electrical wire-way and/or fluid passage. The valves may include integral fittings that can receive tubing or other fluid connections or may comprise valve sub-base mountable valves wherein a valve sub-base forms a fluid-tight seal with the valve and provides some or all of the connection fittings. The valves are usually coupled using a manifold or the valve sub-base system. When the valves are coupled to a manifold system, the manifold can supply/deliver pressurized fluid to/from various ports of the valve. The valve can then control fluid communication between the various valve ports. The pressurized fluid may comprise a liquid, a gas, or a combination thereof. The manifold may also be in fluid communication with external components supplied with the pressurized fluid delivered from the valve island. Therefore, the manifold typically provides a communication interface for each of the valves. The manifold usually forms a fluid-tight seal with each of the valves on a first face and provides one or more nozzles, ports, or some other fluid communication interface on a second face. The manifold can also maintain the position of the valves relative to one another. A simplified figure of a prior art valve island including a manifold is shown in FIG. 1.
The prior art valve island 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a manifold 11 coupled to a plurality of valves 12a-12d. Each of the plurality of valves 12a-12d includes one or more electrical contacts 5 in order to power the valves 12a-12d as is generally known in the art. The plurality of valves 12a-12d may be coupled to the manifold 11 using mechanical fasteners, brazing, bonding, adhesives, snap fit, friction fit, etc. The manifold 11 is typically coupled to the valves 12a-12d to form a fluid-tight seal. In FIG. 1, the valves 12a-12d form a fluid-tight seal with a bottom face 11a of the manifold 11. The manifold 11 also includes a plurality of nozzles 13. In FIG. 1, the nozzles 13 are formed on a top face 11b, which is substantially opposite the bottom face 11a. However, various configurations are known and the nozzles 13 may be formed on a side face of the manifold, for example. In the prior art valve island 10 shown in FIG. 1, each of the nozzles 13 includes a barb 14. The barbs 14 may be provided to aid in retaining conduits, tubing, and the like onto the nozzle 13, for example.
As shown in FIG. 1, the manifold 11 comprises a single molded component that is designed to receive four valves 12a-12d positioned in a single row, i.e., a 1×4 configuration. Therefore, the valve configuration of the manifold 11 is fixed. The manifold 11 is not capable of arranging the four valves 12a-12d in any other configuration. Therefore, if a user requires a different valve configuration due to limitations of fluid tubing or electrical wiring, for example, a new manifold is required. Further, the size of the nozzles 13 on the manifold 11 is generally fixed. Therefore, if different sizes are required due to the user's existing fluid connections, a whole new manifold may be required even though some of the nozzles 13 are appropriately sized. This rigid configuration creates a number of problems. Either the manufacturer is required to produce and stock numerous manifold configurations in order to accommodate a wide variety of customer requirements or the user is required to custom order a desired manifold. Neither situation is ideal because both result in increased costs associated with the chosen manifold, and thus, the valve island 10.
An alternative to using a manifold is to couple each valve to an individual valve sub-base. A valve sub-base can be coupled to a valve that lacks its own fluid fittings, for example. Therefore, the valve sub-bases typically include internal fluid passageways that can communicate pressurized fluid to and from a coupled valve. The valve sub-base can provide a fluid communication interface between the valve and a user's fluid connections. The valve sub-base typically includes nozzles, threaded fittings, threaded ports, etc. that are adapted to receive a fluid conduit, hose, or the like. Generally, a valve sub-base is coupled to a single valve or a limited number of valves. In order to form a valve island, the valve sub-bases can be connected together. Prior art systems are known that couple valve sub-bases. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,204,273 shows a valve island with valve sub-bases held together using bolts. The problem with using a valve sub-base as provided in the '273 patent is that like the manifold, the valve configuration is generally fixed. The valves can only be positioned in a single row. Further, coupling the valve sub-bases is cumbersome and time consuming as multiple bolts or fasteners are often used to hold the valve sub-bases together resulting in an excessive amount of time required to couple and de-couple multiple valve sub-bases. In addition, the valve sub-bases disclosed in the '273 patent utilize a passageway that travels through the side of each valve sub-base. Therefore, the user's fluid connection system must be able to accommodate the single row configuration. There is no way for the valve sub-base system shown in the '273 patent to be arranged with multiple adjoining rows. Rather, only a single row can be provided.
There exists a need for a valve sub-base system that can be coupled to adjoining valve sub-bases in order to create a valve island where the adjoining valve sub-bases resemble a manifold. Further, there exists a need for a valve sub-base system that includes multiple coupling members for coupling adjoining valve sub-bases on adjacent sides to create an adaptable configuration without requiring an excessive amount of assembly time. The valve sub-base system can thus be varied in order to accommodate a wide variety of user configurations.